Evans backs team strength

World champion
Cadel Evans
has backed the strength of his BMC team as he prepares for another Tour de France assault.

Australia will have a record 11 starters when cycling's biggest race gets underway in Rotterdam on Saturday after confirmation Tasmanian Wes Sulzberger will make his Tour debut for French team Francaise des Jeux.

Twice runner-up Evans remains the best Australian hope of overall success but team support has often been a major question mark against him.

Despite a team switch this year it appeared to be a factor again last month when he finished fifth at the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy).

But Evans says there were plenty of mitigating circumstances for that and he's keen to see what they can achieve at full strength.

BMC is not a ProTour team and it had a squad at the Tour of California at the same time as the Giro, while several key riders were also unavailable.

"In previous Tours - trying not to blame others - I have had to compete against teams that were a lot stronger," Evans said.

"This year, our team at the Giro was severely weakened by forces beyond our control - (Alessandro) Ballan, (Karsten) Kroon and (Steve) Morabito had to sit out the Giro for various reasons.